A. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the production of tetrabromethylene from butane.
B. The Prior Art
The use of brominated organic intermediates to impart flame resistant properties to polymers is well established. Tetrabromoethylene has been described as useful as a fire retardant for styrene-type polymers (British Pat. No. 886,811). Heretofore, the production of tetrabromoethylene has been accomplished by the bromination of acetylene (Arm. Khim. Zh. 27 (8) 661 [1974]), bromination of ethylene (Nether. Applic. No. 6,510,390 [1966]) and the decomposition of sodium tribromoacetate (U.S. Pat. No. 3,274,270). In general, these methods give relatively poor selectivities to tetrabromoethylene.
An efficient process for the preparation for tetrabromoethylene in a single step from a readily available inexpensive raw material such as butane would constitute a significant advance in the art and is the primary object of this invention.